Radical Approach to Enzymatic β-Thioether Bond Formation. Author Alessio Caruso, Leah Bushin, Kenzie Clark, Ryan Martinie, Mohammad Seyedsayamdost Publication Year 2019 Type Journal Article Abstract Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) are an emerging class of natural products that harbor diverse chemical functionalities, usually introduced via the action of a small number of tailoring enzymes. We have been interested in RiPP biosynthetic gene clusters that encode unusual metalloenzymes, as these may install as yet unknown alterations. Using a new bioinformatic search strategy, we recently identified an array of unexplored RiPP gene clusters that are quorum sensing-regulated and contain one or more uncharacterized radical S-adenosylmethionine (RaS) metalloenzymes. Herein, we investigate the reaction of one of these RaS enzymes and find that it installs an intramolecular β-thioether bond onto its substrate peptide by connecting a Cys-thiol group to the β-carbon of an upstream Asn residue. The enzyme responsible, NxxcB, accepts several amino acids in place of Asn and introduces unnatural β-thioether linkages at unactivated positions. This new transformation adds to the growing list of Nature's peptide macrocyclization strategies and expands the already impressive catalytic repertoire of the RaS enzyme superfamily. Keywords Bacterial Proteins, S-Adenosylmethionine, Amino Acid Sequence, Carbon-Sulfur Lyases, Multigene Family, Protein Processing, Post-Translational, Peptides, Models, Chemical, Streptococcus, Peptide Biosynthesis, Sulfides Journal J Am Chem Soc Volume 141 Issue 2 Pages 990-997 Date Published 2019 Jan 16 ISSN Number 1520-5126 DOI 10.1021/jacs.8b11060 Alternate Journal J Am Chem Soc PMID 30521328 PubMedGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML